The Light Behind Her Eyes
by APTX4869-Kaito
Summary: "Can you tell," Those words… "Which one of us is Hikaru," Those cold cruel words… "And which one of us is Kaoru?" Those were the words that made my heart stop beating. Those eyes, so dull but so beautiful, staring blankly ahead as if there was no light behind them. I was only nine years old when I first heard those voices calling – screaming – that they were hurt.
1. Prologue

"Can you tell,"

**Those words…**

"Which one of us is Hikaru,"

**Those cold cruel words…**

"And which one of us is Kaoru?"

**Those were the words that made my heart stop beating. Those eyes, so dull but so beautiful, staring blankly ahead as if there was no light behind them.**

I was only nine years old when I fist heard those horribly lifeless voices calling – screaming – out to me. Screaming that they were hurt. Hurt beyond all help, beyond all salvation. I couldn't help it, I cried. That day – that cold white day – I cried, showedweaknesss for the first time in years. Perhaps I should elaborate.

My name Ai Minamoto. Ever since I was young I have always put my family above anything else. I came from a very poor family and we did not have much, so we were grateful for what we did have. While other girls my age would be begging their parents to buy them jewellery and pretty dresses, I would be doing the chores around the house or begging for jobs at small shops. I never had any pretty dresses or high heel shoes, in fact most of my clothes were just old hand-me-downs from my brother.

My mother raised both me and my older brother by herself while working two jobs, it truly was a miracle how she was able to do so with so little sleep. She would always start nodding off whenever she was cooking dinner or doing laundry so Daiki – my brother – and I would always try to help out in any way we could. I had become quite the little chef and Daiki was a lot more domestic than other boys his age.

My mother always said, "You must never show weakness because there are people in this world who will see that weakness and use it against you." It was a cruel reality for us. Mum had shown weakness once and it was worth one cheating husband and half the money in her bank.

My brother was now eighteen years old and would be in his third year at high school but he dropped out in hopes of getting a full time job. I, however, was offered a scholarship to one of the most prestigious (and expensive) schools in Japan, Ouran Private Academy. I was going to refuse but Daiki had said that it would look good on my resume and I would be able to get a better job. And a better job means more money for the family.

And that is how I got here, staring into those same amber eyes from so long ago. Only this time, there was a light.


	2. Chapter 1

I woke up on the morning of my first day of high school to an empty house. It wasn't unusual. Mother was probably still at the hospital, doing overtime from last night and Daiki would have left earlier to go to work. Oh and when I say 'my first day' I really mean that school started about a month ago and I only just quit my day job in order to go to this crappy school about a week ago.

When I had realised that I would need to quit work to be able to attend these classes I had almost given up on them completely but thanks to a two hour lecture about my future from my brother and some encouraging words from my mother I finally decided to quit my day job, I could still work at night anyway.

I took a quick shower, trying to waste as little water as possible, then got dressed in Daiki's old faded jeans, plain white t-shirt and slightly baggy brown jacket. Running a brush through my messy hair, I stared at myself in the mirror. My dark brown hair had been cut short - as it was easier to handle that way - and my face was slightly paler than usual. All around, I was pretty average. Well… there was one thing about me that stood out, my eyes. Bright golden amber orbs stared back at me as I cursed them under my breath; they were the one thing I had inherited from my father. Luckily I had inherited everything else from my mother, from my impossible-to-tame bedhead to my slightly smaller than average height.

Wherever I went people would always point out what pretty eyes I have or how lucky I was to have such rarely coloured irises, but I couldn't stand them. When I looked in the mirror I saw his eyes staring back at me. The bastard had left us when I was only five years old.

Shaking my head and wishing the bad thoughts away, I packed up a small lunch and exited the house, making sure I collected my keys from the bowl by the door. I locked the door and started walking, the house slowly shrinking away in the distance. It wasn't that impressive, just a small cream coloured apartment amongst a bunch of other boring houses. It only had two bedrooms so Daiki and I had to share.

* * *

When I finally arrived at the location I drew in a sharp breath. This place was HUGE… and PINK! Who in their right minds would paint a school PINK?! Calming myself, I stepped though the large entrance gates.

_Do not show weakness._

Mother's words rang through my head, soothing me to the bone. As I passes through the corridors people pointed and whispered, making no attempt to hide their rude curiosity.

_"__Hey, look at that!"_

_"__Isn't that the new honour student?"_

_"__What's with his clothes? They look at least two sizes too big for him."_

_"__He's kinda cute…"_

_"__Whoa, look at his eyes!"_

I tried not to flinch at that last comment; I was a bit more than sensitive when people talked about my eyes like that. However, among the masses of stupid, rude and just down right cruel comments, one stood out.

_"__Hey don't his eyes kind of look like the Hitachiin twins'?"_

Hitachiin twins? Who the hell are they? For all I know they could be some super popular idols, it's not like I can actually keep up with all this teenage gossip nowadays. A string of similar remarks followed soon after and a quickened my pace to get away from all the other teens.

Once I was finally away from all the whispers I decided to approach a friendly looking boy and ask where I might find Class 1-A.

"Excuse me?" I tapped on his shoulder and he quickly turned around with an annoyed look on his face, but that look soon vanished when he saw me. Must have been expecting someone else…

It was then that I realised just how feminine he looked. He had chocolate coloured hair, big brown doe eyes, a heart shaped face and subtle curves that you just don't see very often on men.

"Yes?" he gave a quick I'm-not-a-bad-person smile to which most other girls would probably be swooning.

"I was wondering if you could tell me when to find Class 1-A? It's my first day here and I'm kind of lost…" I trailed off, feeling slightly embarrassed. It's not like it was my fault I got lost, with a school this big you'd think there they would be handing out maps and tourist gifts at every corner.

The boy gave a small smile and replied, "That's my class, come with me and I'll show you the way."

* * *

On the way to the classroom we made some small talk and I found out that he was also an honour student. Though I found it strange that he was able to afford the school uniform, seriously that thing is so expensive it would take at least three months worth of pay.

As we reached the door I took a deep breath and thanked the boy - whose name I had learned was Haruhi – while trying to slow down my beating heart. However, I was in luck, as Haruhi walked in a teacher rounded the corner and gave me smile before telling me to wait outside until they called me in. I heard a brief introduction from through the door and the teacher signalled for me to step in.

All eyes were on me. I almost wished I could run home right then and there but I kept a straight face and walked up to the front of the class where the teacher was standing. I could hear the teacher talking to the class but my mind was not focused on her. Her words drifted in one ear and out the other. What I was focused on were two pairs of gleaming eyes, sparkling with mischief. I had seen those eyes before. But this time they were not dull, nor were they plain.

I had seen them before…

_"__Can you tell,"_

Those eyes were so lost…

_"__Which one of us is Hikaru…"_

So hurt…

_"__And which one of us is Kaoru?"_

But not anymore…

Now there was a light.


	3. Chapter 2

Those pairs of eyes stared at my questionably and I quickly diverted my gaze. I didn't expect them to recognise me - we'd only met once - but the way they looked at me was not just without recognition, their eyes held mischief and curiosity. If I had ever expected to meet them again, I certainly didn't expect to see them like this. If I didn't know any better I would have thought I had never met them before but there was no mistaking those eyes, so similar to mine yet so different. Well mine _were_ darker…

It was then that I saw the small, brown-haired figure sitting between the two redheaded blasts from the past. Haruhi. He seemed to be telling them off for staring and I wondered if they were friends. An exasperated cough from the teacher brought me back to my senses and I found myself immediately straightening my back.

"My name is Ai Minamoto. I'm fifteen years old and I will be starting here as of today. I look forward to meeting you all and I hope we can become friends," I finished of with a smile. But it wasn't true; I didn't really care who these people were or whether we get along well at all, all I cared about was graduating with the grades to get me a good job. One that will finally get us back on track and keep my mother from tiring herself with two different jobs at her age and put her in a better state of health.

I bowed down and when I raised my head I saw many different reactions. Some of the girls were whispering and giggling to their friends while others were staring intensely at me. Trying not to lose my nerve as their gazes seemed to bore holes right through me and continued with my observation. A majority of the boys were either laughing at my name or giving me death glares as the girls began to swoon.

I tried not to chuckle as I realised that they had no idea that I was a girl. Sure I had short hair and I was wearing guys clothes and I didn't exactly have very big… chest, but surely it wasn't that hard to tell I was a girl… right? I mean… they had to be idiots!

The teacher pointed me towards an empty chair on the side of one of the twins. She didn't say their name though. I started towards my seat, however as I passed one of the boys who had earlier been giving me a jealous glare I felt my foot get caught on something and soon enough gravity had taken over. I hit the ground with a startled yelp and the contents of my bag lay scattered across the floor in front of me.

A few hushed chuckles sounded throughout the class and I could feel my cheeks heating up. I quickly gathered all my books and stumbled to my feet, the boy was still glaring.

As I sat down and buried my head in my arms trying to hide my bright red face. I knew it, this is going to be the worst next three years of my life.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, it was finally time for lunch. The students all hurried out the door to what I would assume would be the cafeteria until it was just me and a couple of other students who were taking there time packing up left. I pulled out my small lunchbox out of my bag and began to eat. I didn't have much packed, just a couple of leftover rice balls from last night and an apple. I continued munching away at my lunch while going over what groceries I would need to buy on the way home in my head until a familiar voice interrupted my train of thought.

"You know, you'll get sick if you keep eating like that."

I had been so preoccupied with my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed him standing over me, bento box in hand, giving me with a worried mother-like look. Haruhi.

"You need a balanced diet. If you don't eat some more meat and vegetables you'll never get any stronger."

And with that he sat down next to me, opened his bento and started transferring some of his lunch into mine. Normally I would object but I was so hungry at that moment that I could only mutter a small "thanks" before gobbling up the rest of my lunch along with the kind offerings from Haruhi.

I gave a long exasperated sigh as the final bell rang throughout the school. It was about time! I hurriedly packed my books away into my bag and rushed to the door but before I could make my escape a pair of hands gripped my shoulders and pulled me aside. Suddenly losing all and any hope I had before, I turned my head to see the two ginger twins standing either side of me, grinning like Cheshire cats.

"And where do you think you're going?" they chorused perfectly. "We still have to give our new toy a warm Ouran welcome!"

_New… toy? I don't think I even want to know what they mean by that._

I began panicking as they dragged me down they hall. If I didn't hurry all the good vegetables from the 80% off sale would be gone! I can't bring home some crappy bruised oranges! …Oh and where were they taking me?

"It's okay," one of the twins began. I noticed he had a higher voice than the other.

"We saw you eyeing Haruhi in class today. You know, you could just come out and tell everyone you're gay," the twin with the deeper voice continued.

"It's pretty obvious," the twin with the higher voice spoke up again.

"He works at the host club so you can always just request him there! A little flirting is good for you right?" they both spoke in sync again (it was really creepy when they did that) and I could feel my face heating up as I tried to put words to my thoughts.

"W-what are talking about?! I'm not gay I was just looking is all!" My face probably resembled a tomato right about now.

"Sure, you were just looking," I could almost hear him smirking. Bastard.

"More like admiring, just give it up, we know you like him so there's no use in hiding it!"

"I don't like him! Not like that anyway!" but my cries of protest were drowned out as we reached two large doors and the sound inside seemed to mostly consist of squeals and 'aww's. It's bad enough everyone seems to think I'm a guy, now they think I'm gay!

**HEY GUYSS! sorry for not updating in like... forever... BUT I HAD A GOOD REASON! stupid school... stupid homework... STPUID F**KING TEACHERS GIVING MY FIVE ASSIGNMENTS ALL AT THE SAME TIME! I legit just finished my last assignment today and then my english teacher gave me a new one TT^TT**

**Well anyways, please review! It makes me happy o(^o^)9 THANK YOU TO ALL WHO REVIEWED FOLLOWED AND FAVOURITED! YOU GUYS ARE A ROCK! ...I mean you rock... XP**


	4. Chapter 3

As the doors before me were opened an immensely bright light momentarily blinded me and all sound was immediately hushed. I opened my eyes to see bunches of girls seated in elegant chairs or comfy sofas surrounding one or two boys in different parts of the room. All eyes seemed to be trained on me.

The silence was broken by a flurry of whispers, courtesy of the girls. The twins continued shoving and pushing me forward until we reached a table of four girls and one _very_ familiar brunette. Oh god no. There, sitting at the table, was Haruhi, looking just as confused as I was embarrassed.

I was roughly shoved down into a seat at the table, feeling more and more uncomfortable with the unhidden stares and whispers until I heard the twins speak up from behind me.

"He's a little shy, do take care of him Haruhi, he's been staring at you all day!" And with that they walked over to their own table, leaving me behind in the warzone that I would later know as 'The Ouran High School Host Club'. I sat there awkwardly for almost an entire hour (all attempts of escape were quickly shot down by those two devils) until it was finally the end of their club activities. After various complaints the girls left the room reluctantly, me following close behind, however before I could reach the door a slender hand fell down onto my shoulder, preventing me from leaving.

As I turned around I was met with a dark-haired boy with glasses. "Your payment?"

The words hit me like a brick wall. Payment? As in money? As in the thing I have basically none of? …Well shit.

Shuffling uncomfortably in place, I gave the boy a quick once-over. He was tall (much taller than me) and seemed to give of an extremely relaxed aura, but if you actually paid any proper attention you could just sense the evil radiating off of him. "I'm sorry, I don't think I understand…" it may have sounded extremely dim-witted but it was the best I could come up with when my heart was beating fifty miles per minute.

"You don't actually think we would hold this for free do you? How else do you think we would make any profit?"

_Oh I don't know, maybe you should check buy the stack of photo albums on sale by the door? I'm sure they might help._

"Wait a minute! You can't seriously expect me to pay for something I was practically forced to do! That's just insanity!" The glint in his glasses told otherwise. That wasn't insanity, that was genius. Evil, cruel, but genius. Those fucking bastards.

"I'm afraid the circumstances are rather unfortunate but it was in the contract."

"Huh?"

"Page 284 of the school's scholarship contract, Section 22 'Clubs and Activities', paragraph 3: 'When entering a club and participating in its activities, one must comply with all rules and regulations.' And it just so happens that one of our rules is that all customers must pay the service fee."

"Wha-!" _Damn, he got me there. I knew I should've read that stupid contract._ "But I didn't even enter be choice! I told you, it was them! They forced me in here, why don't they just pay for me?! How much is this fee anyway?!"

"100 000 yen, though with the new customer discount it would only be 80 000 yen."

_YOU'VE GOT TO BE FUCKING SHITING ME! HOW DO THESE CHICKS PAY FOR THIS?!_

"I can't pay that! Isn't there some other way I can pay you back?!" I was desperate, that scheming bastard had me cornered. I could've slapped myself for being so stupid.

_When Daiki finds out about this…_

Suddenly a rather princely voice sounded from behind me, "Kyouya, didn't you say you were thinking of hiring some staff? This would be the perfect opportunity seeing as we need a new errand boy." Haruhi seemed to visibly flinch at that last sentence.

Kyouya smirked and turned back to me before asking, "So what do you say? Care to be our little errand boy."

_Yup, Daiki's gonna murder me._

"I don't really have a choice do I?"

"Not really."

I sunk down to the ground as I finally made it home, closing the door with my back. I had missed the sale and almost used up this week's budget already. Quickly packing all the groceries into the cupboards I rushed into mine and Daiki's room to get ready for work, it was almost 6:00pm.

Slipping on my work uniform, which consisted of light brown slacks and a cream coloured button-up shirt (much cheaper than Ouran's uniform), I ran back down to the kitchen and grabbed my work bag from the table. Checking the clock only to find it reading 5:53pm I sprinted out the door, making sure to lock it in the process, and continued down the street passing a suspiciously fancy car in the process.

_Since when do people ride limousines down a small street like this? Probably some rich kid who got lost on his way to his castle. Stupid rich people._


End file.
